An Island Worth Visiting

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2005)

So Bay bashers are most likely to find little new to love here, despite the fact that this is a distinctly mature step up in his resume. Argue what you want, but it's hard to dismiss his work as not at least entertaining, if not more than occasionally quite absurd. You see ever dollar up on the screen and every shot looks like it was painstakingly produced (which has also been a regular source of ridicule as well as praise). Forget every other film he's made and let's get to this one.
Far more intellectual than what you might expect, don't be surprised if your mind does not occasionally start to dwell on debates of morality and what makes a human being, well, a human being. There are harsh criticisms made about our society and our human nature to the point that you will find yourself demonizing most of the human characters and identifying with the pure, selfless and ideal nature of the protagonists. Our heroes are after all, basically children and therefore have an uncorrupted view of right and wrong, and act on those impulses accordingly. There are some very ugly reminders of what man has been capable in the service of his own selfish objectives, and man's capacity to rationalize the persecution or extermination of other humans and animals as either necessary or because the obstacles are less than human in their eyes. We are quite literally even reminded of the horrors of the Holocaust in a harrowing incinerator scene. We further have our our recall stimulated of another recent act of inhumanity when a major character speaks of a their parents part in resisting the warlords victimizing civilians in Africa. All pretty heavy stuff from the guy who directed the BAD BOY movies.
Now, make no mistake, this is still Bay spectacle stuff here, but even much of that has the unique feeling of real and tangible. The cities seem functionaland one conceivable in the near future. There is not a lot of incomprehensible techno jargon to bombard you either. Even the chases, clearly inspired by other action films themselves (even Bay references himself here) seem fresh and clever. It's worth the ticket price. You get some real inner debate and creepy but intelligent suspense and some genuinely exciting chases in a believable futuristic world. If you take healthy doses of THX-1138, LOGAN'S RUN and a better realization of the B Movie FREEJACK (yeah, there's a bit of that movie in here too) and an obscure flick MST3K fans will recognize called CLONUS then you have a pretty good idea what to expect here, and you know what? It ain't bad at all.